October 14, 2010

Gutierrez says he won't run for Chicago mayor

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez said today he will not run for mayor of Chicago because he would rather work on immigration issues in Congress.

Gutierrez has made a name for himself in the national immigration debate, from opposing the controversial Arizona law cracking down on undocumented immigrants to supporting a bill that would extend legal status to more people.

"I want to be able to have a position where I can go across the country and challenge people," Gutierrez said in a speech today at the University of Illinois-Chicago. "I am committed to making that a movement that will bring about comprehensive immigration reform."

"That is my vocation and that is where I will put my energy in the coming months," he said, adding that he has told other potential mayoral contenders he will not run.

In Chicago, Gutierrez has been the subject of lingering questions about his ties to a convicted developer.

In May, the Tribune reported a former alderman convicted in a bribery probe told investigators Gutierrez boasted of helping his longtime political supporter, Calvin Boender, obtain a lucrative zoning change for a development on the city’s West Side. The Tribune earlier reported Boender loaned Gutierrez $200,000 months before the congressman began pushing Daley to support Boender’s venture.

Gutierrez has said he did not do anything improper. But he has declined to provide many specifics about his efforts on the developer's behalf.

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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Clout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.